Sunday, 15 January 2012

Spreading the spark through TEDx and Eric Handler


If you have never experienced TEDx, it is a site well worth following and watching.  According to the website, “TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.
At TEDx events, a screening of TEDTalks videos -- or a combination of live presenters and TEDTalks videos -- sparks deep conversation and connections. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.”

This morning I watched the TEDx link for Eric Handler who has started a movement called Positively Positive –you can find it on Facebook and he has just joined Twitter. It was a very moving story about how and why he started Positively Positive. It was all based on one day seeing how stale his life had become once he really watched how vivaciously his children live life. He felt he had lost his spark and looked around at the people that were there who he felt had lost their sparks as well. He questioned what happens to us between childhood and adulthood. He questioned how we lose the spark. And then he looked up and saw a sign that said, “Attitude is everything.”
He knew instantly he had to adjust his outlook on life. He realised with certainty that there are three phases to life.  The beginning (birth). The middle (life). And the end (death). We are born and we die. There is birth and there is death. Those are our only certainties. The middle phase the phase between birth and death is where we all are at the moment and it is called Living. Yet very few of us really live. Really explore our lives and possibility. So many of us fail to stay in the present moment where we focus on what is right in front of us. Instead we are either projecting into the future – worrying about what is to come. Or living in the past – worrying about what has been. It is for these reasons that we lose the spark. We don’t see the joy right in front of faces because we are too consumed with what isn’t.
If we could be like children and be our spark by living in the present moment, we could increase our joy exponentially. We also need to find those sparks in our lives and invite them in, embrace them, then share and spread that spark with whomever else is open to receive. Imagine the world of peace, love and joy we would have. Close your eyes and feel your spark and magic. Now open them and spread it.
Because as told by Eric Handler reciting the Dalai Lama, “Man surprised (me) because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present. The result being that he does not live in the present or the future, he lives as if he is never going to die. And then he dies having never really lived.”
We all need to live life not worrying about what is to come or what was because then we will miss the beauty, abundance, love, light and peace that is right in front of us if only we remained in the present moment. Happy Sunday everyone. Let’s practise today living in the moment and capturing our spark then spreading it.

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